148 



TRINIDAD: THEN AND NOW 



Before wandering away from Sunday let me quote 

 another short passage from Kingsley. Describing 

 Princestown church he says : — 



" We went to church — a large, airy, clean, 



wooden one— A crowded congregation it 



was, clean, gay, respectable, and respectful, and 

 spoke well both for the people and for their clergy- 

 man. But— happily not till the end of the sermon— 

 I became aware, just in front of me, of a row of 

 smartest Paris bonnets, net lace shawls, brocades, 

 and satins, fit for duchesses ; and as the centre of 

 each blaze of finery — - £ off am non faciem/ as old 

 Ammianus Marceilius has it — the unmistakeable vis- 

 age of a Chinese woman." " All that could be 



told was, that the richer Chinese take delight in thus 

 bedizening their wives on high days and holidays ; 

 not with tawdry cheap finery, but with things really 

 expensive and worth what they cost, especially the 

 silks and brocades." 



Kingsley 's description mainly referred to the 

 few Chinese hearers who, on that day formed part of 

 his congregation, but mine includes the whole com- 

 munity irrespective of class or colour, and thus I 

 continue. But above all, when attending a wedding 

 or a 1 ' christening ' ' Solomon in all his glory was not 

 arrayed like one of them. Then again at the more 

 sober funeral, one sees the women in either their pure 

 white frocks, simply picked out by a black sash or 

 belt and their hats with drooping plumes of black 

 ostrich feathers ; the men in their well made black 

 frock coats, silk hats, and, don't let me forget, their 



